May 2015

MAY 2015
The AssociATED sociETY of LocoMoTivE EnginEErs & firEMEn
JOURNAL
ASLEF
Make up your mind – for the most
important election in a generation
TOSH McDONALD: Why I’m voting Labour
ANDY BOTHAM, TOM CORBIN and HOWARD KAYE:
Fear and loathing on the campaign trail
NANCY PLATTS calls for a
better deal for passengers
MICK YATES on life
as a plough jockey
ASLEF the train
drivers’ union
railway enginemen’s tax free saver plans
disability cover for
the cost of a flutter
on the horses
tax free policies from £5 per week
products
saver plan
children’s
saver plan
saver and
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for further information call us
on freephone 0800 328 9140
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727 Washwood Heath Road, Birmingham, B8 2LE
Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority
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Incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992
Reasons why everyone
should vote on 7 May
n LinE with our policy, we have worked
incredibly hard to deliver a Labour victory.
The need to protect and develop the nHs,
and to look for a model that drives a real future for
our industry, are paramount.
The doubling of the national debt whilst
promoting the bedroom tax, zero hours contracts,
Atos, the removal of free speech under the
Lobbying and Transparency Act, not for the brown
envelope mob but for trade unions and charities,
attacks on the right of workers to take on
employers at tribunal or after personal injury, and
the planned removal of your right to strike – these
are just a few reasons why everyone should vote on
7 May. civil society as we know it has come under
prolonged attack not to promote the greater good
but because of dogma and it is time for change.
in this issue of the Journal you will hear why we
support the party created by the trade unions. You
will also see ordinary train drivers standing for
parliament in the hope of making it a more
representative house, with real life experience
colouring the many and difficult decisions that
have to be made. We wish all our members,
standing or supporting in local or national
elections, every success and applaud the time,
effort and belief they have shown in fighting for
their communities.
We await the outcome of an incident that has
serious implications for the impact of a casual
workforce in a complex industry. An operator has
had its ability to run trains suspended, at least
temporarily. We have long asked questions about
how substantive employers or serial casual
employers share safety information and
micromanage rehabilitative or other plans, post
incident, and do some take any action at all?
Because it is unfair on drivers and companies that
behave responsibly, and have robust systems in
place, to suffer detriment if others do not.
I
ABOUT
Yours fraternally
Mick Whelan
general secretary
ASLEF
7
4
News
 Mark Prenter out on the streets of Medway
4
 Passengers better off with public sector rail
5
 AsLEf in action at stand up to racism
6
 David Jones calls on drivers to show Pride
7
 rob Miller on victory for the famous five
8
8
12-13
Features
10
 nancy Platts: A better deal for passengers
10
 Tosh McDonald: Think before you vote
11
 Andy Botham, Tom corbin, Howard Kaye: 12-13
fear and loathing on the campaign trail
14
 Tony West and the candidates we are
supporting at the general election on 7 May
 Mick Yates talks about Health shield,
classic cars and life as a plough jockey
Regulars
15
16
 Branch news and 100 Years of Union
 obituaries
 Letters and classified Advertisements
15
16-17
19
20-21
 Last Word: caroline Lucas, Bill Bryson,
Peter Hain, Leonid Brezhnev and Death
22
 Prize crossword and Legal services
23
22
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More than
just a union
JOURNAL
MAY 2015
ASLEF
PUBLisHED BY THE AssociATED sociETY of LocoMoTivE EnginEErs AnD firEMEn
4
news
i want to be elected
MARK PRENTER, who works
out of Waterloo, is standing
for Labour in Twydall ward
on Medway council
We are just a week away from the most
important general election of our lifetimes.
important for us as train drivers and trade
unionists – because of what the Tories plan to
do to us – but important for everyone in
Britain because it will determine the direction
this country takes for the next five years.
i’m a train driver, staff rep at Waterloo, and
standing as the Labour candidate in the
elections for Medway council. Having always
had an interest in politics i became involved in
my constituency Labour Party, but was never
confident enough to put myself up for
election. But two years ago a branch circular
advertised an AsLEf political school, and i
applied. some may ask why is AsLEf running a
political school and the answer is simple.
People say ‘all politicians are the same’ and
‘they don’t represent me’ as so many MPs get
into politics after reading PPE at oxford. When
i knock on doors i hear how many feel
disenfranchised, and what better way to
change that than train drivers becoming
Party the best
dividend for the
co-op today
KARIN
CHRISTIANSEN,
general secretary of
the Co-operative
Party, on why the future of
the Co-op is in your hands
Do you shop at (or bank or insure
with) the co-op? Has a co-op
ballot paper dropped through
your letter box or into your email
inbox in the last few days? if so,
we need your help. The co-op
group is trying to break its 100
year link with the co-operative
Party. it doesn’t understand it’s
meant to be different from other
supermarkets and doesn’t
understand the need for cooperatives, like unions, to have a
voice in Parliament. But you can
save it. Please use your ballot
paper to appoint the chair as your
voting representative and instruct
them to vote ‘Yes’ to all parts of
Motions 9 and 10 (using sections
B and D). for more information
please visit our website
www.Keepit.coop
The ASLEF JOURNAL
councillors and Members of Parliament?
so after being politically empowered at the
AsLEf school i got selected onto the executive
committee of my cLP, used my skills, which we
acquire at our branches, got myself noticed
and was successful in the selection process.
if the Tories are elected again, our
cherished nHs will be sold off, with many
services being provided by the private sector.
Many trade unionists argue that Labour did
nothing for us and, on many fronts, they are
correct. But they didn’t push through any
more anti-trade union laws, while another
Tory government will make it harder for us to
withdraw our labour. That will, in turn, reduce
our bargaining strength over pay, terms and
conditions, and standing up for colleagues
ASLEF activists join Mark to help get the vote out
when they have a run-in with management.
i’d like to extend a big thank you to all the
branches and AsLEf activists, including gs
Mick Whelan and Ec member Marz colombini,
who have not only helped financially, but
joined me on the doorstep to deliver my
campaign material.
QUINTINSHILL RAIL DISASTER
The worst rail crash in this country will be remembered on its 100th anniversary
later this month. On 22 May 1915 three trains crashed at Quintinshill Bridge near
Gretna Green in Dumfriesshire. At least 227 people, including Driver Scott and
Fireman Hannan, were killed – the exact number was never determined – and a
further 246 were injured when a troop train packed with soldiers from the Royal
Scots, the oldest infantry regiment in the British Army, travelling from Larbert to
Liverpool, collided with a local passenger train which had been shunted on to the
main line. A Glasgow express ploughed into the wreckage moments later and gas in
the lighting system of the old wooden carriages ignited and started a fire which
engulfed two freight trains on a passing loop.
A formidable panel –
including Diane
Abbott, Labour MP
for Hackney north &
stoke newington;
Jim Dowd, Labour
MP for Lewisham
West & Penge; Kevin
Maguire, associate
editor of the Daily
Mirror; and Tosh
McDonald, Ec
president –
answered questions
from a packed
audience at Waterloo
nine Elms’ Question
Time-style meeting
at the Horse &
stables in
Westminster Bridge
road. The meeting
was organised by
steve richardson
and chaired by Marz
colombini, snapped
here with our guests.
End of the line for
farmer smith?
QUOTE…
‘Some see Nigel Farage as a seriously
insurrectionary and anti-establishment
figure, though in practice he’s a
Thatcherite banker who’s as
insurrectionary as a PowerPoint
presentation at McKinsey’s. He’s just
succeeded in pulling off that rare trick
among the obsessives, hobbyists, nutters,
hacks, and drones who inhabit politics, of
appearing vaguely human.’ – The
Coalition Book by Martin Rowson
…UNQUOTE
Our smart ASLEF 18mm diameter
enamel crescent stud button hole
badges are just £4 (including p&p);
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The future of steam trains on main
lines is in doubt after the orr
launched an investigation into
serious safety breaches at the
West coast railway company.
West coast is Britain’s biggest
heritage operator, running 500
trains a year, including the famous
Jacobite service from fort William
to Mallaig which was featured in
the Harry Potter films. West coast
has been involved in a string of
safety incidents, but the final straw
for the regulator was a near miss
at Wootton Bassett on 7 March
when a steam loco, pulling 13
coaches, ran a red light and came
to rest at a junction just moments
after a high speed passenger train
travelling at 100mph from
swansea to London had passed.
West coast is run by David smith,
a Yorkshire farmer, who, according
to the Daily Telegraph, ‘runs it in an
authoritarian manner and treats it
like his own private train set.’
news
MAY 2015
5
Off the rails
Mick Whelan and Howard Kaye hand out postcards to passengers at
Waterloo (top); Colin Smith braves the rain at Liverpool Lime Street
(above left); and Tosh McDonald joins activists at Barnsley (right)
fares cheaper
with rail in
public sector
season tickets for passengers
would be 10% cheaper if Britain’s
rail services were run by the
public sector, according to new
research by Transport for Quality
of Life for Action for rail. Eleven
franchises are up for renewal in
the next five years and the report
says that if they were all returned
to the public sector the benefits
for this country would be
enormous.
‘Before the end of this year it
would be possible to introduce
free off peak travel for children
travelling with parents,’ according
to the research. ‘from 2017
regulated fares – including
season and anytime day tickets –
could be cut by 10%. And from
2020 all fares could be cut by 3%.’
Mick Whelan said: ‘At a time
when families are struggling to
make ends meet, and the
government talks of value for
money, delivering a different
model that could cut fares makes
sense not only for the passenger
but for the taxpayer, too. Let’s
ease the burden on everyone by
doing what the public are
demanding.’
Shadow Transport Secretary
Michael Dugher stops by the ASLEF
table during Doncaster Central
Labour Party’s annual dinner at the
Keepmoat Stadium (above) and
(left) is presented by Tosh McDonald
with a model of the Flying Scotsman
sculpted in coal.
CONFERENCES
ASLEF’s annual assembly of delegates is at the Park inn, southend,
from Tuesday 12 to friday 15 May. The Durham Miners’ Gala is on
saturday 11 July. The Tolpuddle Martyrs’ festival, near Dorchester, is
from friday 17 to sunday 19 July. The Burston strike school rally is at
Burston, near Diss, in norfolk on sunday 6 september. The Trades
Union Congress is at the Brighton centre from sunday 13 to
Wednesday 16 september and the Labour Party conference is at the
Brighton centre from sunday 27 to Wednesday 30 september.
TIMOTHY BENTINCK, who plays
David Archer in the long-running
radio soap The Archers, has a secret
sideline. He’s the voice of ‘Mind the
Gap’ on the Piccadilly line in London.
Radio is the poor relation to
television and relatively poorly paid. The Archers is
recorded in six day blocks, once a month, at the BBC
studios in Birmingham and the cast fill the rest of their time
with other work. Bentinck has just written a children’s
book, Colin the Campervan (FBS Publishing, £5.99) based
on the days when, as ‘a jobbing actor,’ and to save money,
he would drive to Brum in his VW camper. ‘Everyone else
was in a hotel or B&B but I thought it would be more
romantic – and more fun – to park in the field opposite the
Pebble Mill studios and sleep there.’
THE LIST of dodgy political euphemisms gets
longer. Joining ‘enhanced interrogation’
(torture); ‘collateral damage’ (deaths of
innocent civilians); ‘extraordinary rendition’
(kidnapping by the state); and ‘economical
with the truth’ (lying) NBC news anchor Brian
Williams said he ‘misremembered’(lied) when he claimed
he was on a Chinook hit by an RPG in Iraq. Now Grant
Shapps, the Conservative Party chairman, says he
‘overfirmly denied’ he had a second job as a ‘multi-million
dollar web marketeer’ punting self-help guides such as
Stinking Rich 3. Overfirmly denied? ‘I lied.’
MICHAEL CASHMAN, Labour
MEP for the West Midlands from
1999 to 2014, and now a Labour
peer, was on top form at ASLEF’s
Parliamentary reception.
Recalling his days as an actor,
best known for playing Colin – and for participating in the
first gay kiss on prime time British telly – in EastEnders, he
said: ‘I told the producer that Colin wouldn’t fancy Barry.
“No, Colin, the problem is that you don’t fancy Gary [Hailes,
the actor playing Barry]. Get on with it”!’
SIMON WOLFSON, Tory peer, and boss of
High Street fashion chain Next, thinks: ‘There
are a lot of people for whom £6.70 is enough
to live on.’ Because £6.70 an hour – just above
the minimum wage – is what Wolfson pays
his staff. He picks up a basic salary of £350 an
hour – before bonuses – and is worth £112 million. Next
made £782 million profits last year but Wolfson won’t pay
his workers a penny more.
CLIVE HOLLICK, chair of the House of
Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee,
talking about HS2 on Today on Radio
4, opined, ‘the solution to the
problems of overcrowding lie in
pricing.’ The wealthy peer, who is close to Peter Mandelson,
wants to price poor people off the railway.
500 CLUB: W ronksley, with number 147, won the April draw, scooping
the rMs prize money jackpot of £362. Well done, Bill!
6
news
The ASLEF JOURNAL
LONg MARCH BACK TO HATFIELD MAIN
Making a stand
ED D’BELL, Black and Ethnic Minority
committee member for District 1,
reports on the Stand up to Racism demo
AsLEf activists – including floyd Doyle, Trevor
robinson, Lee James and Do1 graham Morris
– joined a march organised by stand Up to
racism and fascism to put across the message
‘say no to islamophobia, no to scapegoating
immigrants, and yes to diversity.’ An estimated
10,000 people joined the march in London,
starting from the BBc. People came from all
parts of the UK, including many trade union
activists, supporters of LgBT organisations and
show racism the red card, which highlighted
just how diverse our country is. Unfortunately
the march was interrupted by Britain first
leader Paul golding, and some of his cronies,
outside a pub en route to Trafalgar square but,
with a large police presence, there was no
trouble. speakers included Diane Abbott,
Labour MP for Hackney north & stoke
newington; george galloway, respect MP for
ASLEF in action (above)
and flags of the world in
Trafalgar Square
Bradford West; and the inspirational author
and journalist owen Jones. i took along our
BEM banner, which did get a lot of attention!
QUOTE…
‘On the basis of current polls, there is
going to be no outright winner. We are
going to see a coalition, or the first
minority government since Harold
Wilson in 1974.’ – Peter Mandelson
…UNQUOTE
BRANCH LINES
steve Allison (Brighton); Martin
connell (Polmadie); Alastair
cowin (Peterborough); Phil
graham (West London Electric);
Tom Horton (new cross gate);
stephen Lawrence
(Leytonstone); David Morgan
(isle of Wight & Portsmouth);
Martin Moynihan (Arnos
grove); chris nedza (Morden);
richard Pearce (gillingham);
Luke rogers (gloucester);
James roy (Bakerloo); Elliot
stone (Banbury); Paul Taylor
(newport); and Anthony Wilson
(clacton) attended the branch
secretaries course run by
national organiser simon Weller
and Marz colombini, Ec
member for District 1, at stoke
rochford Hall in April.
Tosh McDonald, Ec president, and nigel
roebuck, DB schenker company council, held
the AsLEf banner high to show solidarity with
miners at Hatfield main colliery as they marked
the 30th anniversary of their return to work.
running down a dream
District 3 Organiser COLIN SMITH
reports on a smooth run in a new cab
Mick Whelan, as general secretary, and I, as lead
officer, were invited to have a cab ride on Direct
Rail Services’ new Vossloh engine (the name on
the engine reminds me of ASLEF) at Crewe. We
were both impressed with the smooth ride to
Chester and back; the cab design has our drivers’
works council’s involvement. The console and
the really wide windscreen are two major
changes on which the council had input at the
factory workshop. DRS made Mick and me
welcome and the day went according to plan,
thanks to Alison Hannah. We also discussed
business plans and recruitment for the future.
New branch secretaries join Mick Whelan, Simon Weller
and Marz Colombini on the steps at Stoke Rochford
Our ASLEF ball point pens are
well red. And just £3 (including
p&p) for a pack of six; email
admin@aslef.org.uk or visit our online shop at
www.aslef.org.uk
Mick, Colin, driver Phil Taylor, operations
director Jeff Marshal and managing director
Neil McNicholas
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news
MAY 2015
7
London Pride
DAVID JONES, LgBT
committee member
for District 7, calls
on ASLEF drivers
to march next month to
mark 30 years of solidarity
with the miners
T’s the 30th anniversary of acts of
solidarity between Lesbians and
gays support the Miners and nUM
members who fought the coal Board, and the
Tory government, in the bitter miners’ strike of
1984-85. The story is very well done in the film
Pride, in which a group of young lesbian and
gay people identify the struggle of the striking
miners with the political oppression of the
LgBT community in the quest for equal rights.
LgsM chose the village of onllwyn in the
Dulais valley in south Wales for financial
support which, at first, was received
reluctantly but which culminated in a massive
turnout of striking miners at a gay Pride
march that year, reciprocating the support of
the LgBT community. This event was hugely
significant, with the nUM forcing through a
motion supporting equal rights for lesbians
and gays at the Labour Party conference that
Metropolitan
metrosexuals:
Londoners take
pride in
diversity
I
year, a major turning point for LgBT rights in
this country.
This is an appeal for AsLEf members to join
the march in London on saturday 27 June. As
AsLEf members we can still today be very
proud of the support our union gave the
miners during that dispute. And as LgBT trade
union activists we can be proud of the support
our community gave the strikers, when the
evil Thatcher government tried to starve the
miners into submission.
AsLEf is liaising with those miners’ groups
still in existence and the TUc has contacted
LgsM members to recreate this historic event.
We are expecting the Tredegar band to lead
if you don’t vote, you don’t count
‘If you don’t vote, you don’t
count.’ That was the stark
message from District 8
Organiser Finn Brennan, who
added: ‘Politicians only listen,
and take notice, of people who
vote. That’s why we need to sign
up and make our voices heard,
and select a candidate who can
be elected Mayor of London,
because he or she will be our
boss.’ Finn was talking about
ASLEF’s campaign to recruit
members who live in London as
affiliated supporters of the
Labour Party – it won’t cost you
a penny – at a London regional
council meeting chaired by Ben
Wallington, Metropolitan line
driver, at the House of
Commons.
Kelvin Hopkins, Labour MP
for Luton North, and chair of the
ASLEF parliamentary group,
called in to say hello and Val
Shawcross, London Assembly
Member for Lambeth &
Southwark, who speaks on
transport for Labour, said ‘I’m
looking forward to the day when
we have a mayor who
understands transport in
London because Boris doesn’t
have a good grasp of detail.
When we pointed out he’d
robbed Peter to pay Paul, he
said, “Oh, did I”?’
John Cryer, MP for Leyton &
Wanstead, and new chair of the
Parliamentary Labour Party,
wants an Ed Miliband
government to adapt John
McDonnell’s balloting bill to roll
back the anti-union legislation
of the Thatcher-Major years
which Tony Blair left on the
statute books. And he added: ‘I
was speaking in a church
recently, and I knew they were
all Tories, and when I said I
wanted to renationalise the
railway they all broke out in
applause. It’s a popular policy,
even with Conservatives!’
the parade, reforming especially for this event.
it would be tremendous to see a massive
AsLEf turnout for the march with as many
AsLEf banners as we can muster on the day.
Last year the LgBT committee marched at
Pride in Liverpool. Let’s make this year the
biggest and best turnout to support your LgBT
colleagues, and recreate the solidarity that
was, and still is, our strongest tool in furthering
workers’ rights. for more information please
contact Lee James, AsLEf’s equalities adviser,
on ljames@aslef.org.uk
QUOTE…
‘But for its clumsiness and inertia,
Labour should be walking away with
this election.’ – Mary Riddell, Daily
Telegraph
…UNQUOTE
SETBACK FOR HIgH SPEED RAIL
A public inquiry in france has rejected plans for two new high speed
Tgv lines after concluding that €8 billion plans for 225 miles of new
track between Bordeaux, Toulouse and the border with spain were too
costly, would primarily benefit rich people in big cities, and that the
money would be better spent on improving the existing rail network.
More than 100 friends and supporters of the South Yorkshire
Freedom Riders, campaigning against cuts in travel passes for old
and disabled people, turned up at their birthday party rally in
Barnsley. Tosh McDonald, EC president, and David Court, RMS,
represented ASLEF – enjoyed a slice of birthday cake – and joined the
chants of ‘Northern Rail, hear us say – Freedom Riders here to stay!’
Our funky black baseball cap will keep the sun
out of your eyes this spring. £5 (including p&p);
email admin@aslef.org.uk or visit our online shop
at www.aslef.org.uk
8
news
The ASLEF JOURNAL
The five are free –
now end blockade
ROB MILLER, director of the
Cuba Solidarity Campaign,
reports on a famous victory in
the long campaign to free the
Miami five from jail
sLEf has been a valued supporter in
the long-running campaign to free
the Miami five from Us jails. That’s
why Mick Whelan was as delighted as we were
with the announcement that the remaining
three prisoners would be allowed to return
home to their families in cuba. The men,
unjustly imprisoned for 16 years for trying to
prevent terrorist attacks against cuba, were
finally released by President Barack obama as
part of a thawing in relations between the two
countries.
As an affiliate to the cuba solidarity
campaign, AsLEf has strong links with unions
in cuba, and heard first hand from Juan José
Polo vázquez, general secretary of the cuban
Transport Union, when he visited Britain, how
A
Solidaridad: the Miami five, finally free after
16 years in prison in the United States
the Us blockade impacts not only on cuba’s
ability to maintain its railways, but on every
aspect of cuban society.
Despite Us willingness to begin talks, the
blockade is not over. Although the Us has
made it easier for its citizens to travel to the
island, and permits limited trade, core
blockade policies remain in place. ridiculous
though it seems, cuba is still on the Us list of
‘state sponsors of terrorism’ and the Us still
illegally occupies cuban territory at
guantánamo Bay. And just days after
announcing the release of the Miami five, the
Us gave another $11 million to groups
working for ‘regime change’ on the island.
AsLEf raised these points at the scottish
TUc in April, urging the trade union movement
to keep up the pressure for an end to the
blockade once and for all, to defend cuba’s
independence, and the country’s enormous
achievements in health, education and social
justice, free from Us interference.
You can show your solidarity by affiliating to
the cuba solidarity campaign. it costs just £40
a year, and your branch will receive our
quarterly 40 page colour magazine CubaSí,
voting rights at our agm, regular briefings,
advice on tours, materials and speakers for
meetings and invites to cultural events and
conferences. for details about affiliation, or a
model motion, email ollie Hopkins, campaigns
officer, at campaigns@cuba-solidarity.org.uk or
call him on 0207 490 5715.
QUOTE…
‘Enough of the dry politics of numbers.
We need to discuss values and vision.’ –
Will Hutton, author of How good
We Can Be: Ending the
Mercenary Society and Building
a great Country
…UNQUOTE
routledge on the right track
Paul routledge, a former industrial correspondent on
The Times, The Observer, and the Independent on
Sunday, who now writes for the Daily Mirror,
addressed our political course at stoke rochford Hall
and wrote about it in his column: ‘i go back a long
way with the train drivers’ union, AsLEf. so i was
happy to talk about the media to an AsLEf politics
course. My, how things have changed. The union is much smaller, but
the education work is second to none. it’s good to see another union
engaging in serious political activity. And there were two women on
the course – another step forward.’
WORLD’S
OLDEST RAIL
TUNNEL
The first new pre-series five car Class
800 intercity express train has
arrived in the UK from Hitachi’s
Kasado works in Japan. Rail Minister
Claire Perry was at the Port of
Southampton to welcome the first
of 122 new electric and bi-mode
locos being built for the East Coast
and Great Western main lines.
English Heritage
has awarded the
world’s oldest
railway tunnel
protected status.
Fritchley tunnel
was built in 1793 as
part of the
Butterley
gangroad, an early
industrial
revolution railway
using horse-drawn
trains to link the
limestone quarries
at Crich in
Derbyshire with
the Cromford
canal.
Tosh McDonald, EC president, spoke for ASLEF at a People’s Question
Time panel organised by Unions 21. Photo: Steve Doran
HIgH COURT REVEALS THE APPEAL OF FREIgHT
The High court has turned down an appeal by st Albans council against
the granting of planning permission for the radlett rail freight terminal
by Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and Local
government. it was a test case because of its position in the south-east
of England where there are few potential sites with good connections.
‘We need road/rail transfer stations such as radlett at strategic locations
on our major networks to get long distance consumer freight onto the
railways,’ said Philippa Edmunds, manager of freight on rail. ‘Terminals
are the freight equivalent of stations for passengers.’
SHOCK AND AWE FOR ORR AND ORR
The office of rail regulation became the office of rail and road on 1
April. ‘in addition to our existing functions as health and safety and
economic regulator of great Britain’s railways we will start monitoring
and enforcing the efficiency and performance of the strategic road
network in England.’ And save on new stationery…
Our elegant ASLEF cufflinks are just £6
(including p&p); email admin@aslef.org.uk
or visit our online shop at www.aslef.org.uk
Comprehensive legal
cover to keep you and
your family on track
Contact the ASLEF legal service first for free, specialist legal
advice and representation on:
Personal injury - at or away from work, on holiday or on the roads
Serious injury - including brain and spinal cord injuries
Industrial disease or illness
Reduced rates for conveyancing, probate and lasting Powers of
Attorney
Criminal law support for workplace issues (24hr helpline:
0800 587 7530)
Employment law (accessed via your ASLEF district organiser)
ASLEF members’ families are also covered for personal
injury claims away from work.
Using your ASLEF legal service, provided by Thompsons Solicitors,
means you will keep 100% of your compensation within the
union scheme.
Call the ASLEF legal service today on 0808 100 8009
www.thompsons.law.co.uk/aslef.htm
Standing up for you
10 Platform
The ASLEF JOURNAL
A better deal
for taxpayers
and passengers
NANCY PLATTS is Labour’s
candidate in the key marginal
seat of Brighton Kemptown,
which the Conservatives won
with a 1,328 majority in 2010. Here she
explains why it’s vital to kick out the
Tories on 7 May
AM standing this month to become
the next Labour MP for Brighton
Kemptown. i used to work for the
TssA, where i ran a campaign with AsLEf and
the rMT to stop the public private partnership
on London Underground and Take Back the
Track – the successful campaign to return
railtrack to public ownership. i’ve also worked
for the London fire Brigade and in the
voluntary sector on campaigns to tackle fuel
poverty and for healthcare charities including
Breakthrough Breast cancer and Diabetes UK.
i haven’t been to university, worked for a
think tank, or an MP, or been a special adviser
– i come from outside the Westminster
bubble. And the reason that is relevant is
because my views about the railways are
based on real life. i travelled every day by train
to work from the age of 18 so i have been ‘a
long suffering commuter’. High fares, delays,
breakdowns, leaves on the line, the wrong
kind of snow – being stranded mid-journey or
standing for the entire journey squashed into
a carriage like a sardine – it is often said that
we treat cattle better than commuters. You
only have look at Twitter during the rush hour
to witness the daily horrors and stress
endured by passengers.
I
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP IS RIgHT
i have spoken to hundreds of people about
whether they feel the railways would be better
off in public ownership – and the question
usually meets with a resounding ‘yes’. Why?
Because people don’t believe the excuses
given by the private sector, they don’t
understand how fares can go up so often, and
by so much, but they still can’t get a seat, and
trains are still delayed and cancelled.
opinion polls show there is huge support
from the public, regardless of their political
beliefs, for bringing rail franchises back under
public ownership as they expire – even 60% of
Tories are in favour of doing it (60% of Tories
are in favour, 30% against; for Labour the
figures are 71% in favour and only 8%
against).
i did an interview about stealth fare rises on
the Brighton to London line – hiked up by a
massive £664 a year with our off-peak fare
Nancy with Labour leader Ed Miliband and
out and about campaigning on the streets of
Brighton Kemptown
going up from £16.40 to a whopping £28.50 –
and the journalist, who was getting some
background before my interview said, ‘But tell
me, really, where does all that money go?’
no wonder people feel cheated – instead of
profits being re-invested in the railway they
are going into the pockets of shareholders. But
it’s worse than that – all this is being
subsidised by the government – it’s taxpayers’
money, our money – to the tune of £4 billion a
year.
BETTER THAN BRITISH RAIL
What people in Brighton say to me is they
don’t understand how train companies can
walk away with £300 million profits every year
while they struggle with rising prices and
stagnating wages. i believe in a policy to
reduce rail fares by bringing the railway
franchises back into public ownership, as each
contract expires, so those profits are instead
used to offset fare rises and invested in the
network. Then it would help people out who
are struggling with the cost of living.
This policy would fit in perfectly with
Labour’s wider offer to put money back in
people’s pockets and it wouldn’t cost us.
We have to be robust about the fact that
we are not asking for a return to British rail,
but also remind people that many of Br’s
problems, and reputation, came from a lack of
investment. We’ve seen from the East coast
main line that the public sector can run an
excellent railway – they returned more than £1
billion over five years to the taxpayer.
SCANDAL OF THE ROSCOS
The taxpayer now invests £4 billion every year
in the network and that would continue
whatever the ownership model. We would
need to combine the benefits of a single
system – like simpler ticketing and fairer fares
– and today’s levels of investment. And return
that vital extra £300 million to taxpayers that
we so desperately need right now. Because
£70 million means 1% off fares. A good service
and affordable fares, that’s what passengers
want – and that’s what i think they deserve.
i also want to see an end to the scandal of
the rolling stock companies cashing in with
vast profits when leasing trains to train
operators. This increases the cost of running
passenger services and means even more
taxpayer subsidy.
if i get elected as the MP for Brighton
Kemptown, my job will be to represent people
and to campaign to get the best possible deal
for them to improve their lives.
That’s why i put my name to a letter in The
Observer in May last year asking Ed Miliband to
return the railways to public ownership as one
of our key policies. it’s why i went on the radio
4 Today programme and it’s why it will be a
priority if i am elected to Parliament.
it’s a better use of taxpayers’ money. it will
mean a fairer deal for passengers. And it is a
vote winner!
 Nancy Platts was born and brought up in Bexley, south-east London, but now
lives in Brighton. She has worked for the London Fire Brigade, the TSSA, and the
Greater London Authority, as well as charities such as the Daycare Trust, Age
Concern, the National Childbirth Trust, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the Child
Poverty Action Group. She stood against Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion in 2010,
losing to the Greens by 1,252 votes.
MAY 2015
Election 11
Please vote – and
think before you
make your mark
TOSH McDONALD, ASLEF’S
president, looks at the choice
facing voters in the polling
booths on 7 May
His is the most important election of
my lifetime and we are being
bombarded with opinion,
propaganda and promises from
commentators, all of whom have a vested
interest for one party or the other (and the
majority support the Tories); from politicians
promising the earth; and from comedians,
some telling us not to bother voting as ‘they’re
all the same.’
in recent years politicians – of all parties –
have left a lot to be desired and helped create
a distrust of mainstream politics. But make no
mistake, the section of society hurt most by a
low turnout is our class (although we told that
class is no longer an issue in Britain).
i also have an interest – and i don’t pretend
otherwise. i am proud to be an active member
of the Labour Party and proud that our great
union is affiliated under rule, and remained so
even during the new Labour years when it
became very difficult to support some of the
things that Progress, and the Millionaire
Tendency, introduced. But the Labour Party
today is a different animal to what it was the
last time it was in.
T
‘
‘I will be voting Labour because I
want to be part of a society where
opportunity is available to all and
everyone is valued irrespective of their
background.’ – Nigel gibson,
District 5 Organiser
What i want to do is cut through the sweet
talk and bullshit being rammed down our
throats and examine the real choices facing us
in a traditional class conscious way from the
once powerful industrial heartlands of the
north – with two aims. The first is to encourage
you to get out and vote – make sure you are
still registered, check by looking online or
ringing your local office – and the second is,
hopefully, to convince you to vote for our
party – Labour.
The CONSERVATIVE PARTY does a
fantastic job representing their class – the
richest 1% of society – and transnational big
business. This is the party that has given the
successful publicly-owned East coast back to
the privateers even though it put £1 billion
back into public coffers. A party that has seen
the majority of our members now working for
Your vote counts: it will decide whether David
Cameron (top left, though not politically), Nick
Clegg or Ed Miliband is running this country
german, Dutch, french or American
companies so our taxes subsidise, at best,
taxpayers in other countries or, at worst,
foreign-owned big business. How can we
possibly support a party which appoints a
scab as secretary of state for Transport? A man
who has grovelled and crept his way up
through the ranks of the Tories as a traitor to
his fellow miners, helping them destroy the
industry in which he once worked?
The LIBERAL DEMOCRATS. it would be a
special kind of blinkered fool who could still
support this party of broken promises. They
promised to vote against tuition fees but then
introduced them as lackeys of their Tory
masters. They cut millions of jobs in the public
sector, along with pay freezes and robbing
pension schemes, all for a few places around
the cabinet table and a couple of chauffeurdriven limousines.
on the face of it the GREENS look quite
attractive – especially when the only green MP
has introduced a bill to renationalise the
railways. But you don’t have to scratch the
surface very far to see the danger these
ideologues pose for this nation. i have had the
misfortune to share a platform with influential
members of the green Party and i thought
things were looking up when one of them
introduced herself as an eco socialist. But the
policies she espoused were more national
socialist than eco socialist. Don’t get me
wrong; i want to see a reduction in carbon
emissions, and believe it’s madness to have
diesel trains running under overhead wires
because small parts of a journey are not
electrified. But the mad obsession with the
elimination of all use of fossil fuels has more in
common with the nazis’ final solution than any
socialist policy.
The greens don’t understand what the
fight in 1984-85 was all about. it was never
about money, it was about saving the industry,
and the communities. To happily close
industries and communities just to stop coal
being burnt – even though there are hundreds
of years of the black stuff in Britain, and the
carbon capture technology to make coal clean
– is a massive waste of resources. The greens
aren’t eco socialists, they’re eco facsists.
‘
‘I’m voting Labour because our
country needs a government that
governs for all not a few. We need
progressive policies that tax the wealthy
and distributes our country’s wealth
across the four nations.’ – Kevin
Lindsay, District 2 Organiser
UKIP are the worst of the Tories rolled into a
small band of bigots proud to keep ‘the flame
of Thatcherism alive.’ Their policies – to the
right of the conservatives – would devastate
the nHs, public services and welfare. They say
they’re not racist but spout blatantly racist
remarks until, when caught on camera, they
are disowned by the banker (and that’s not
rhyming slang) their leader Mr Toad. They say
trade unions are an unnecessary burden on
business; yet we have had people pushing
these extremists on union forums!
i have listened to Alex salmond say the
SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY would support
a Labour government to keep the Tories out.
What nonsense! This is the party, in
government in scotland, which, within two
weeks of losing the referendum on
independence gave away scotrail to the
Dutch state railway with undue haste and then
did away with the BTP, merging it into Police
scotland to fiddle the numbers. Basically,
there’s no difference between an English
capitalist and a scottish capitalist. Tories with
kilts on!
i have stood on platforms with TUSC
campaigners and find them to be good
socialists and trade unionists. But they aren’t
going to be elected. i’m reminded of my good
friend and comrade Mick rix, when he stood
for Arthur scargill’s socialist Labour Party (the
Last refuge of the Damned) in Leeds and was
beaten by not just the Labour, conservative
and Liberal Democrat candidates but even by
ronnie the rhino. A vote, however well
intentioned, for any party other than Labour is
a vote to keep David cameron and george
osborne in Downing street. so please get out
and vote – and please think very carefully
before you vote.
12 Agenda
The ASLEF JOURNAL
fear and loathing: on the
campaign trail May 2015
The general election on 7 May
is, arguably, the most
important since 1945. Three
ASLEF members are standing
for Labour. With a nod in the
direction of Hunter Thompson’s gonzo
classic about the battles between george
Mcgovern, Hubert Humphrey and george
Wallace for the right to run against
Richard Nixon KEITH RICHMOND reports
from the election campaign frontline
HE perils and pitfalls facing candidates
on the campaign trail were summed up
rather dryly by Andy Botham after he
put up a meadow board in Ashbourne on the
edge of the Peak District national park. Andy, 48,
a train driver for 25 years, is standing against
Tory Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin in
Derbyshire Dales.
‘it was massive, this meadow board, and
there were four of us putting it up in what is a
Tory heartland. Before we started i asked if we’d
got permission and was told yes. so up it went.
When i drove by next day someone had spray
painted “Don’t” before “vote Labour” so i
stopped and painted over “Don’t.” But then, later,
T
when i got home i got a call from the farmer
whose field it was in. “You’ll have to take it down,
Andy,” he said. “We’ve been getting hate calls and
people threatening not to do business with us
because they hate Labour”.’
The East Midlands Trains driver – described by
Kevin Maguire of the Daily Mirror as a ‘top
organiser, Andy’ – can laugh about it now,
although it wasn’t so funny at the time, but then
Andy has been around the block a few times,
thinks the glass is half full, not half empty, and
has a good sense of humour.
He’s a local boy, born and brought up in
Matlock, in the heart of the constituency, not a
conservative carpetbagger – apart from ten
years ‘down south’ working freight trains out of
redhill he’s spent his life in the town – and he
knows about transport from the driver’s cab at
the front of a train, not by ‘driving a desk.’
‘Patrick McLoughlin must be worried because
he’s been out on the streets here – people say it’s
the first time they’ve seen him in 25 years – but
he’s just his usual arrogant self. We shook hands
at a hustings in Wirksworth. it was a firm
handshake at the beginning – and a very limp
handshake at the end.’
Andy has had more than 3,000 individual
conversations with constituents – 60 a day for 50
Andy is trying to overturn
a Tory majority (over the
Liberal Democrats) of
13,866 (Labour finished
third, 1,500 votes behind
the Lib Dems, in 2010)
days – as well as speaking at public meetings.
‘Listening is the key. stand and listen, don’t
interrupt. give people a chance to get it off their
chests.’ There is an old adage that all politics, in
the end, is local. And while a general election is
different from a by-election, county, district or
parish council election, because voters are
electing a government, Andy knows that it’s
often a local issue that matters most. ‘if someone
is out of work, then employment is the issue; if
someone in their family has cancer, it’s the nHs;
if they have kids, it’s education.’
He’s put himself about – he even has his face
plastered across the back of ten double decker
remember that Portillo moment
THE count, in South West Surrey, is at the
Edge, a leisure centre in Haslemere. Howard
Kaye, 52, a train driver all his working life,
and now a member of our executive
committee, is standing against Health
Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and has told him:
‘Jeremy, I’m putting a bottle of champagne
on ice. Win or lose – but, frankly, I’m
expecting a Portillo moment – when the
result is announced between 4am and 5am
on Friday morning, let’s shake hands and
enjoy a glass of bubbly together.’ Hunt was
livid. Partly because he is very rich and rather
grand, but mostly because he doesn’t have a
sense of humour.
It’s a tough nut to crack – in 2010, the
Conservatives got 33,605 votes, the Lib Dems
17,287, and Labour 3,419 – and Howard is
realistic. ‘Of course I’d like to win, but the
definition of success here would be getting
our share of the vote (6% last time) into
double figures. But it’s important Labour puts
up a plausible candidate in every
constituency to give everybody, everywhere,
a chance to vote for the party, because the
aggregate vote, across the country, will
legitimise Ed Miliband if he falls just short of
an overall majority in Parliament.’
Howard has had lots of support from his
family, colleagues in ASLEF, and local Labour
Party members. ‘I really appreciate all the
help I’ve had from comrades in ASLEF and
local Labour activists. We don’t have the
resources to hand deliver an introductory
ARCHIE MANUEL, Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, was the last ASLEF
Member of Parliament. He was elected to Westminster in 1950 and reelected in 1951; lost the seat in 1955 but won it back in 1959 and held it
until he stepped down in 1970. John Cryer, Labour MP for Hornchurch from
1997 to 2005 and for Leyton & Wanstead since 2010, worked for ASLEF, and
Alan Meale, Labour MP for Mansfield since 1987, was on the head office staff as
assistant to GS Ray Buckton from 1979 to 1983; but neither was a train driver.
leaflet to every home, so we’ve adopted a
different strategy, setting up street stalls.
And it’s been really effective. We take a paste
table, cover it with a red cotton bed sheet,
staple it down, put up Vote Labour signs and
open for business every Saturday morning in
Haslemere, Godalming and Farnham. It’s
given us a visible presence and it’s been great
how many people have come up and said,
“Good to see you, I didn’t realise there were
any other Labour activists here!”
‘And we have a record number of
Election 13
MAY 2015
Positive
vibe
stagecoach buses – and says ‘it’s going really
well. We’ve increased the Labour Party
membership here by a third, up from 250 to 350.’
Will he win? ‘i wouldn’t be standing, and
putting in all this work, if i didn’t think i could.
The Lib Dem vote is going to collapse and
they’re not going to vote conservative.’
TOM CORBIN has been surprised
– and delighted – by reaction to
his red tie, and red rosette, out
on the doorstep in Wiltshire.
Tom, 38, a train driver for 13
years, is standing against John
Glen, the sitting Conservative, in
Salisbury. In 2010, the Tories got
23,859 votes; the Lib Dems
17,893; and Labour 3,690.
‘It’s going well,’ he says.
‘People have been really
receptive, and very positive, to
what we have to say. Lots and
lots of Lib Dem voters, people
who voted Liberal Democrat last
time, say they won’t vote Lib
Dem again and are looking at
Labour. And a lot of
Conservative voters, too, have
told me they are thinking of
voting Labour for the first time.
‘Because they are fed up with
David Cameron, they are fed up
with austerity, and they are fed
up with the Conservative cuts.
They don’t want another five
years of the same sort of thing.
And, here in Salisbury, a lot of
people are tired of the way the
Tories run things. They want a
change.’
Tom knows he has a
mountain to climb but, in 2013,
he was elected, against the
odds, with his wife Caroline,
onto the city council in Salisbury
where he has lived and worked
for 37 years.
‘We were elected because
here, in Conservative-controlled
Salisbury, people have been
poorly represented by
councillors who are out of
touch with the needs of local
residents. Salisbury still has a
Tory majority – the county is
very rural, and traditionally a
Conservative area, but the city
has strong pockets of Labour –
but Labour has come from very
poor election results in 2009 to
a strong second voice for the
city in 2013 and we are getting
a very strong positive vibe here.
‘It’s been a privilege to be a
councillor, and it would be an
enormous honour to go to
Westminster, and although it’s
been quite a challenge the last
few months have been the
Tom, on his Twitter account,
describes himself as ‘train
driver, trade union activist,
city councillor and Labour’s
PPC for Salisbury.’
proudest period of my life. I’ve
got a proven track record of
representing people and this is
an opportunity to come back at
John Glen.
‘There’s a two-way choice at
the general election, not just in
Salisbury but in the country.
Between a continuing
Conservative government and
the Labour alternative. That will, I
think, concentrate people’s
minds in the voting booth.’
‘If David Cameron gets back into Downing Street we are
guaranteed another attack on our right to take action to
protect our members; more attacks on pensions; and
massive cuts in the public services on which our families
rely.’ – Finn Brennan, District 8 Organiser
i hear you knocking but you can’t come in
It’s Howard v Hunt in South West Surrey, a
constituency comprising Farnham,
Godalming and Haslemere
candidates – 19 – standing in the borough
council elections in Waverley. Which is a
testament to the work we’ve been doing here,
on the ground, in the constituency. I’ve really
noticed how people who voted Lib Dem last
time have changed their tune. They’re not
going to vote for them this time. I think the
Tory vote, too, will crumble because people
are disillusioned after five years of failure.’
After a packed hustings in front of 450
people at the Maltings in Farnham, Howard
shook Jeremy Hunt’s hand. ‘I told him not to
worry because, if he loses, I could get him a
job as a train driver!’ Hunt didn’t find that
funny, either…
The ASLEF crew hits Haslemere in South West Surrey to help EC member Howard Kaye
We met Do5 nigel gibson, Ec1 Marz colombini and rMs national secretary Tony West at Waterloo
before meeting Brother Howard Kaye at Haslemere in surrey. We set up a street stall to hand out
leaflets and engage with voters although we were not very well received as this is a Tory heartland.
But we did find some friendly Labour faces during the day!
Khalid Nasim Rana, gidea Park, LDC
14 Election
The ASLEF JOURNAL
Protecting the values
in which we believe
TONY WEST says
it's time for a
change on 7 May
HE most damning
indictment of five years
of coalition government
is the level of poverty that exists
in Britain, one of the richest
countries in the world. Poverty is
not defined simply by low income
but by means of access to decent
housing, community amenities
and social resources. someone
who lacks these is, in a wider
social sense, living in poverty.
There are 11 million
pensioners in Britain and 3 million
of them live below the poverty
line. in a country with an ageing
population the prospect of an
increase in pensioner poverty is
on the horizon. The image of
pensioners sitting on the deck of
a cruise ship with their grey hair
glinting in the sunlight does not
reflect the reality of what the vast
majority of us are suffering.
This appalling state of affairs
looks set to continue when you
listen to george osborne and his
proposals for £30 billion extra
cuts, with £15 billion coming from
welfare if the Tories win the
general election.
Behind the election deception
that ‘the sun is shining and the
country is walking tall’ we see
food banks, zero hours contracts,
a paucity of new housing, sky
high rents and rocketing youth
unemployment. The financial elite
has been making hay under the
Tories and their Lib Dem partners
in crime, with mouthwatering
salary increases and share options
that beggar belief. The Tories are
happy for £25 billion to go
T
‘I’m voting Labour because
I want a fairer society and
a government that will
keep our NHS safe,
support our communities
and put people before
profit margins.’
– Marz Colombini, EC
member District 1
missing every year through tax
avoidance. in the last five years
they have created the worst
division between the haves and
have nots for generations. i
thought the Thatcher years were
bad, but the conservative-Liberal
Democrat coalition has surpassed
them for greed, selfishness and
lack of social integrity.
As someone who has been in
the Labour Party and labour
movement all my working life,
and retirement, that’s where my
cross will stay. They are far from
perfect, as history has shown, but
the alternatives offer only deeper
divisions and further damage to
our moral and social responsibility
‘I’m voting Labour to save
the NHS, end austerity, and
prevent the Conservatives
destroying the public sector.
I don’t want the Tories to sell
off Britain while looking
after their rich friends on tax
avoidance; splitting the
education system to benefit
affluent areas; and risking
our pensions against
market forces.’
– Colin Smith, District
3 Organiser
to each other.
Whoever wins the trade union
movement, with over 6 million
members, is going to have to
become more active and
politically wiser. We have to
protect the values in which we
believe and to which we have
aspired over our long history.
As a proud member of AsLEf i
know we will, as active or retired
members, play our part achieving
our aims and aspirations. And best
wishes to the three members of
AsLEf – Andy Botham, Tom
corbin and Howard Kaye – who
are standing as parliamentary
candidates in this election.
Tony West and Nigel Gibson
(left) out on the streets
campaigning for a Labour
victory to get Michael Dugher
(top), a man from a railway
family, into the DfT
‘I’m voting Labour
because I believe they will
look after the interests of
everyone, not just the 1%;
they will stop the
privatisation of the NHS,
and invest in the
education of our children.’
– Dave Calfe, EC
vice-president
THESE ARE THE 41 CANDIDATES ASLEF IS SUPPORTINg IN THIS gENERAL ELECTION:
Dave Anderson, Blaydon; Richard Baker, Aberdeen North; Polly Billington ,Thurrock; Caitlin Bisknell, High Peak;
Andy Botham, Derbyshire Dales; Richard Burgon, East Leeds; Katy Clark, North Ayrshire & Arran; Tom Corbin,
Salisbury; Neil Coyle, Old Southwark and Bermondsey; John Cryer, Leyton & Wanstead; Ian Davidson, Glasgow
South West; Rowenna Davis, Southampton Itchen; Peter Dowd, Bootle; David Drew, Stroud; Lisa Forbes,
Peterborough; Sheila Gilmore, Edinburgh East; Margaret Greenwood, Wirral West; Ricky Henderson, Edinburgh
South West; Julie Hilling, Bolton West; Kelvin Hopkins, Luton North; Rupa Huq, Ealing Central & Acton;
Cathy Jamieson, Kilmarnock & Loudon; Sarah Jones, Croydon Central; Howard Kaye, South West Surrey;
Stephen Kinnock, Aberavon; Ian Lavery, Wansbeck; Clive Lewis, Norwich South; Ian Mearns, Gateshead;
Graeme Morrice, Livingston; Grahame Morris, Easington; Matt Pennycook Greenwich & Woolwich;
Nancy Platts, Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven; Luke Pollard, Plymouth Sutton and Devonport; Jim Sheridan,
Paisley & Renfrewshire North; Ruth Smeeth, Stoke-on-Trent North & Kidsgrove; Cat Smith, Lancaster & Fleetwood;
Jo Stevens, Cardiff Central; Suzy Stride, Harlow; Karen Whitefield, Falkirk; Rosie Winterton, Doncaster Central;
Kenny Young, Midlothian East.
AND THESE ARE THE 30 CANDIDATES TO WHOM WE HAVE MADE A DONATION:
Dave Anderson, Blaydon; Richard Baker, Aberdeen North; Polly Billington, Thurrock; Caitlin Bisknell, High Peak;
Richard Burgon, East Leeds; Katy Clark, North Ayrshire & Arran; Neil Coyle, Old Southwark and Bermondsey;
John Cryer, Leyton & Wanstead; Ian Davidson, Glasgow South West; Rowenna Davis, Southampton Itchen;
David Drew, Stroud; Lisa Forbes, Peterborough; Sheila Gilmore, Edinburgh East; Margaret Greenwood, Wirral
West; Ricky Henderson, Edinburgh South West; Kelvin Hopkins, Luton North; Cathy Jamieson, Kilmarnock &
Loudon; Sarah Jones, Croydon Central; Ian Lavery, Wansbeck; Clive Lewis, Norwich South; Graeme Morrice,
Livingston; Ian Mearns, Gateshead; Nancy Platts, Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven; Luke Pollard, Plymouth
Sutton and Devonport; Jim Sheridan, Paisley & Renfrewshire North; Cat Smith, Lancaster & Fleetwood; Suzy
Stride, Harlow; Karen Whitefield, Falkirk; Rosie Winterton, Doncaster Central; Kenny Young, Midlothian East.
MAY 2015
Key Worker 15
The chesterfield Job
KEITH RICHMOND talks to
Mick Yates about Minis,
Health Shield, a vintage
ASLEF lithograph and life
as a plough jockey
fEW weeks ago Andy Botham, who’s
standing against Patrick McLoughlin
in Derbyshire Dales, organised a
fundraiser in Matlock. one of the items up for
auction was a vintage AsLEf poster signed by
the afternoon’s speakers, including Tom
Watson, chris Williamson, ian Lavery and
Dennis skinner. Kevin Maguire, who outshone
Jeffrey Archer as event auctioneer, pushed the
bidding up to £180 for the hand-coloured
lithograph.
‘i handed over a cheque for £200,’ says Mick
Yates, a train driver for 37 years, who took it
home. ‘Before the auction i thought i’d like to
have that hanging on my wall at home, and i
was prepared to go to £200, so i lobbed in the
extra twenty. Every little helps to get rid of the
Tories!’
Mick, 53, was born in chesterfield and
brought up a few miles away at shirebrook.
‘My mum worked in the hosiery mills and my
dad – christened george but known as Tim –
was a train driver at Langworth and shirebrook
who got his 50 year medal. i had no idea what i
wanted to do when i left school. it was the
colliery or engineering around our way and i
didn’t want to do either. Dad said, “What about
the railway? i can’t get you a job but i can get
you an interview.” i joined the union straight
away. i had to, it was a closed shop! it was
AsLEf or the nUr and dad said AsLEf.
A
PLOUgH JOCKEYS
‘i’ve been on freight all my life – British rail,
EWs, DBs – plough jockeys, we’re called,
because the trains are slow. i’ve had the
chance to drive passengers, but would sooner
drive freight. There’s not so much pressure if
there are delays, and more down time waiting
at power stations, for discharge or load. i like
going to work and i still enjoy driving.’
Minis as well as trains. ‘My first vehicle, in
1980, was a green Mini van. i owned it for 10
years. spent all my money on it. Boy racer,
bucket seats, alloy wheels, i worshipped that
car! Then i had kids, but couldn’t bear to sell it,
so i dismantled it – i still own the registration,
rrr 280f – and sold it for parts.
‘i’ve had four Minis. got three now. They’re
great fun to drive – remember The Italian Job.
My lad came up to his 17th birthday, and i said
i’d help him get a car, what do you want, and
he said a Mini. five years ago i joined the robin
Hood Mini club, which was moribund, just
four members, now it’s 70, all
based in this area, all
passionate about Minis. it’s not
about making money, it’s
about making friends.’
Jeremy Hunt, the Health
secretary, thinks health
care is something out of
which you should be
able to make money. But Mick disagrees. for
30 years he’s been involved with Health shield,
a friendly society – it was the Transport
Hospital fund – started by railwaymen in
crewe. ‘it was a cashback scheme, you pay in,
get money back, a way of putting money aside
for medical costs, sold on the railway.’ He got
involved as a result of the union, first as a rep –
each depot had a rep – and then in 1989 was
elected to the committee of management.
now he’s a non-executive director.
THEY CALLED ME RED MICK
‘Health shield offers the best health cash back
available. it’s a co-operative, so it’s not about
profit, or surpluses, but serving the people. All
the money goes back in. it’s growing
organically, not through mergers, and it’s
successful because it delivers for its 200,000
members. it’s the total opposite of what i do as
a train driver, when my sole thought is driving
that vehicle from A to B to c in the best
possible way. With health care, it’s about
thinking strategically, not immediately,
looking a long way down the line. i want to
keep the co-operative mentality, the soul of
the movement, alive – so we don’t forget
where we came from.’
Mick has never forgotten where he came
from. During the miners’ strike shirebrook
continued to work. ‘The whole depot worked
except for the LDc. Management booked the
LDc into meetings every day, so they couldn’t
be asked to move coal, so they couldn’t refuse.
i was a second man, with norman ‘snowy’
Davies, and they were asking us to move coal
from Thoresby and ollerton. i said, “i’m not
happy, the union’s instructed us not to move
coal and we’re moving coal,” and norman, who
was a Tory – i liked his character, but not his
politics – turned round and said, “Do what you
think is right, not what everyone else is doing.
Mick in front of the famous twisted spire
of the parish church of St Mary and All
Saints, Chesterfield; with his treasured
Mini; and Michael Caine in The Italian Job
Be true to yourself.” so i went into work on
Monday and refused to move coal. Then the
shit hit the fan. The supervisor said, “i’ll give
you 10 minutes to think about it,” and i said,
“10 minutes or 10 hours, it won’t make a
difference.” They put me in the mess room, as
spare, for eight hours every day. some drivers
shook my hand – “can’t do it myself, but i
admire you” – others were very aggressive,
because i was showing them up.
‘it carried on like that for two weeks. The
depot, including my dad, continued to work
coal, and i was living at home with my parents.
We were carrying the can for AsLEf’s policy.
Then ray Buckton came to a big meeting in
the church hall, and the union agreed to
recompense drivers for loss of wages, but for a
fortnight i was on my own. They called me red
Mick!’
STAND AND BE DAMNED
it was through the union that he got involved
in the Labour Party. ‘shirebrook had a really
good branch secretary, Tink Taylor, who
inspired me.’ Mick joined the party in 1982 and
was a Labour councillor on shirebrook council
from 1984 to 1996. He gave it up – he had
children, was doing Health shield, ‘and there
are only 24 hours in a day’ – but now, with
more times, has started going to meetings
again. He got a lot out of a recent AsLEf
political course at stoke rochford. ‘Mark and
Ed give you the skills – no preaching – to do
the job. You learn how the system works.’ He’s
set his sights on a seat on the district or county
council and, in the future, wants to stand to
become an MP or MEP. ‘stand and be damned!
Because the only way to change things is not
to moan, but to get involved.’
16
Branch news
The ASLEF JOURNAL
Upcoming events
 DIDCOT – SATURDAY 2 MAY
RMS reunion from 12.00 at Didcot Railway Club. All past and
present members and associates welcome.
ASLEF reps listen up to become legal eagles
victoria’s the queen
of legal eagle day
ANDY YATES, Cambridge branch and
Abellio greater Anglia LLR, reports on a
legal training day for District 5 reps
EC5 Howard Kaye and
27 local level,
company council and
branch
representatives from
train and freight
operating companies
– AGA, East Coast,
GTR, EMT, DB
Schenker and
Freightliner
Intermodal – across
District 5 attended a
very informative day
of legislative training
organised by DO5
Nigel Gibson.
Gratitude is extended
to the GMB for use of
their facilities in
Stephenson Street,
London, and
especially to Victoria
Phillips, a senior
partner of Thompsons
solicitors, for
delivering the training
so eloquently and for
providing an
abundance of
supplementary hand
out information.
The training
covered
discrimination law,
disciplinary and
grievance, the
Equalities Act, flexible
working, ACAS
approved codes of
practice, case studies
and checklisting, as
well as the dreaded
group activities and
exercises to help
embed the
knowledge.
While being
encouraged by
positive
developments in
employment
legislation, this was
tempered when
hearing of the
menacing erosion of
other areas of
employment
protection by the
Conservative-Lib Dem
coalition, including
employment
tribunals, the Criminal
Injuries Compensation
Scheme and health
and safety at work.
Discussion on a
wide range of topics
and experiences, such
as positive
discrimination and
flexible working,
added to a
constructive and
enjoyable day, for
which we thank Nigel.
Reps said they felt in
an even better
position to represent
members as a result of
this invaluable
training.
 BRIgHTON & SUSSEX – TUESDAY 5 MAY
Reunion for all retired and working members with a
connection to Brighton or any of the Sussex motive power
depots (Barnham, Bognor, Eastbourne, Hastings, Horsham,
Littlehampton, Newhaven, Ore, Seaford, Three Bridges,
Tunbridge Wells West and West Worthing) from 14.00 at the
Brighton Railway Club, Belmont, off Dyke Road. Details from
Paul Edwards (07402 478278) or Paul Horan (07868 757492).
 OLD OAK COMMON – TUESDAY 9 JUNE
Anyone with any OOC history is welcome at the retirement
section’s annual reunion from 13.00 to 16.00 at the AGV Club,
Alwyn Gardens, Acton, London W3.
 LEICESTER – SATURDAY 13 JUNE
Annual reunion at the Barley Mow, Granby Street, Leicester
from 12.00. All retired and active members welcome. Contact
Ray Worthy (07804 029149) for details.
 TONBRIDgE – THURSDAY 2 JULY
Southeastern retired and working members’ reunion from
11.00 at the Royal British Legion, 26 Priory Road, Tonbridge.
 Please send your branch news and photographs to
journal@aslef.org.uk
Special
evening
Grove Park were
pleased to welcome
GS Mick Whelan and
EC1 Marz Colombini
to our branch
meeting and
retirement
presentation evening
for Brothers Simon Hill
and Carl Petersen.
Mick gave members a
thoroughly
entertaining update,
including taking
questions on a variety
of subjects, before
handing over to Marz
to complete the
ASLEF news. Mick
Ali Hussein with Marz, Carl, Simon and Mick
then presented Simon
and Carl with their
retirement certificates
(and Simon with his
35 year badge). Simon,
after many years as
our much respected
local rep, has decided
to retire early, like Carl,
to enable them both
to attend many
Retired Members’
functions! Mick
congratulated them
on their outstanding
service, before the
celebrations
continued in the time
honoured manner.
Huge thanks to Mick
and Marz for making it
a special evening.
Ray garland,
branch secretary
Jamie Glackin, chair of the Scottish Labour Party, sent us these two
pictures. One (above) shows train drivers and firemen at Motherwell
(including his great-grandfather Patrick, who had two brothers, Billy
and Jimmy, who were also loco drivers) on strike in 1921; the other
(top) ASLEF men (including his grandfather Edward) out on strike in
1953. Jamie is keen to find out more about Patrick and Eddie. If you
have any information, please let us know.
100 years of Union 17
MAY 2015
ULR project worker Mike Tansey (centre)
between Mary and Barry Higgins
sign of the times
MIKE TANSEY reports on
an enterprising couple
who can help us help
those who can’t hear
Barry and Mary Higgins, a husband and wife
team from north Yorkshire, began teaching
sign language courses 13 years ago. Both are
rail enthusiasts and love travelling by train.
Barry was born partially deaf, while Mary was
just 18 months old when she fell off a stool,
severely damaging her right ear, which
resulted in 95% loss of hearing. Barry jokes
that he doesn’t believe this because ‘Every
morning i wake up she tells me i was snoring
all night!’
for nine years the couple have been
travelling across the country voluntarily
teaching sign language to rail staff. ‘We like
meeting people,’ says Barry. ‘often, people
don’t know how to cope with deaf people and
that’s how the course can help.’ Barry and
Mary understand the difficulties deaf and
partial hearing people face when travelling.
Barry’s jovial nature is testament to his bright
and cheerful personality, which comes across
in the courses he and Mary teach.
‘in one day, we teach 210 words in British
sign language, all related to the railway.
numbers are essential to learn and so are the
signs for tickets, iD cards, family cards, signal
failure and late trains.’ The way Barry and Mary
run the course is by relying on whispering and
lip reading. ‘We want to put the students in
deaf people’s shoes so they can get an idea
how much of an impact hearing impairments
have.’
Problems with a train’s speaker or indicator,
or the change of a route or arrival time, can
create huge upsets for deaf people. not only
might they miss their connection and have to
fork outmore money for a new fare, but their
distress will also create problems for railway
staff. That’s why being deaf-aware is so
important for all of us. ‘Learning sign
language helps increase staff morale because
they learn something new and know how to
cope better with situations involving deaf or
partially hearing passengers.’
Joe McLaughlin, an AsLEf union learning
rep at crosscountry, has worked with Barry
and Mary delivering sign language courses at
Leeds station. ‘it’s fantastic to meet people
who give up their free time to teach a
valuable subject,’ says Joe. ‘And they deliver
the class in such an enjoyable way.’
standing out from the rest
DO7 Brian Corbett and
Howard Rugg present
Dave Grover of Westbury
branch with his 50 year
membership medallion.
It was a great privilege to have
the GS attend Derby branch.
Mick gave us an in-depth
report on the upcoming
general election, and the
importance of returning a
Labour government, offered
his support to branch member
Andy Botham who is the
Labour candidate in
Derbyshire Dales, and
emphasised the importance of
ASLEF members getting
involved in local and national
politics. Mick also spoke about
the latest railway
developments, including the
debacle of franchise
extensions, the problems
with the Serco sleeper
franchise, and protecting
ASLEF members involved.
Presentations were made
to Bro S Reader, LLC rep EMT,
for long and loyal service;
tankards were presented to
Bro S Barnes and a medallion
to Bro S Usher for his past
service on the EC.
Having the GS attend our
branch meeting and take
questions from the floor
shows how unique our trade
union is.
What other union would
afford its members the right
to challenge the leadership
to open and frank debate in
the branch room?
This is what makes our
trade union stand out from all
the rest – and long may it
continue.
Eamonn Tague, branch
secretary
Mick Holder looks back
to May 1915 and life
here on the home front
WHISTLINg OF LOCOMOTIVES
Zeppelin raids on Britain, which began in
January 1915, featured in the Journal 100
years ago. JJr, in his column, writes: ‘Last
night i was rudely awakened by a
Zeppelin scare, and the calling out of
special constables, and the clatter of men
running to answer the call of duty. And
above it all i could hear the whistling of
locomotives and the rattle of trains, the
one sound which never ceases in this
country night and day, in times of safety
or of peril.’
WAR BONUS FOR RAILWAYMEN
nottingham branch reports this response
to a pay deal: ‘Mr gable gave a very able
and interesting address dealing with the
recent meeting of the joint executives and
the general managers committee, which
resulted in practically every railwayman in
great Britain receiving an increase of 2s or
3s per week in the shape of a war bonus.’
But Doncaster branch reports passing this
resolution for the executive committee:
‘This branch expresses its dissatisfaction at
the settlement resulting in the paltry war
bonus of 2s and 3s in lieu of an increase in
wages more commensurate with the
increased cost of living.’
HEAD OF THE POLL
The Journal reports that the Labour Party,
formed by the trade unions just a few
years before, was enjoying some early
success. ‘The Labour Party in Ardsley has
done well again at the urban district
council elections, and its candidates
headed the poll in each ward in the recent
election. Brother Barton Wild was reelected head of the poll in the east ward,
and Brother WH Heald secured the other
seat at his first attempt.’
OPENINg OUR ENTERTAINMENT
Mirfield branch reports : ‘i hasten to thank
all the ladies for their valuable assistance,
both the cutting up and at the tables, hard
work and no return other than the
knowledge they are assisting in a good
cause. Mr Moore, at the opening of our
entertainment, told the ladies it was up to
them to see that their husbands joined
the orphan fund, as it was they who
benefited if the breadwinner was taken
away. We had a pleasant and profitable
evening together.’
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Let’s keep the Co-operative Group true to
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obituaries 19
MAY 2015
MIKE SELWOOD A CORNISH PASTY ON THE LATE ST IVES JOB
i first met Mike selwood when he
transferred to Penzance in 1987.
He was a one off, an eccentric,
and interesting. Whatever, he was
a joy to work with. You knew you
were in for a good day when he
was your driver. A quick swim in
the sea or an ice cream on the
early st ives job or a pasty on the
late st ives. get him on the
falmouth and it was a trip to the
local balti establishment.
As well as driving trains he
could turn his hand to just about
Mike: double top on the board
anything; he was a self-taught
craftsman, particularly with
wood. numerous small items
such as walking sticks and
chessboards helped Mike
graduate to larger projects. He
enjoyed fishing and annual trips
to the scilly isles which invariably
included shore and boat fishing.
He also loved playing darts;
reaching a high standard, for the
county in competition, and won
numerous trophies. He played all
the top players, most memorably,
a game in 2001 against three
times world champion John Lowe.
Mike only narrowly missed out on
winning after being the first to a
double!
naturally, darts and real ale go
together, and they did for Mike; he
loved a proper pint. After he lost
Tish, his wife of 38 years, to cancer,
eight years ago he decided to
move away. To Bulgaria, in fact,
though he returned regularly to
catch up with family and friends.
The cornish contingent at Mike’s
funeral in folkestone – a 700 mile
round trip – was proof of his
popularity.
Derek Winn, Penzance
branch reporter
DOUg gARNHAM
ALWAYS CRACKINg JOKES
CLIVE CHIPPINgTON
LIKED PRACTICAL JOKES
on a very cold february morning in
Leatherhead we said a far too early farewell to
a great friend and work colleague. Doug
garnham passed away just a few days short of
his 57th birthday. He came onto the railway
quite late in life, in the mid-1990s, after
numerous other jobs, including the fire service
and police force. He began his driving career at
farnham in 2006 and then, shortly afterwards,
was diagnosed with asbestosis. Doug was a
very friendly and likeable bloke, always
cracking jokes with a cheery grin, and was
upbeat to the end. He was very interested in
history, especially the second World War, and
local history around Epsom and Leatherhead.
Doug was a passionate chelsea fan and a
group of his railway mates went with him on a
tour of stamford Bridge a short while back and
had a fantastic time. Doug had three grown up
children – niki, Amy and Ben – who paid
splendid tribute to their dad at his funeral. A
On 12 March I attended the funeral of Clive
Chippington, affectionately known as
Chippy. A very well attended occasion,
seating for 100 people and the walls lined
two to three deep. Chippy was a really great
guy, who liked practical jokes, and also had
a competitive nature. He was a very good
darts player, and in later life took up golf at
which he also excelled. Chippy, like most
railwaymen, liked a drink and the company
of his friends. He moved about a bit in his
railway career, first at Parkeston, then
Stratford for his driver’s check. When
Stratford split he went to Colchester,
finishing up at GB Railfreight.
Dave Pizzie, RMS
Blue was the colour for footie fan Doug
drink was raised at the star on Kingston road,
Leatherhead, to a truly wonderful bloke.
Steve West, Farnham
TERRY KENNA FIRM BUT FAIR
Terry Kenna developed kidney problems in September and, sadly, died a short while
afterwards. He started at Gorton in 1951, moved to Monument Lane, and then filled a
vacancy at Kingsbury in 1964 until the end of steam workings in March 1967, when he
moved to Saltley. In 1968 Terry moved to Birmingham New Street where he went into
management. He returned to Saltley in the 1980s as a manager, and many drivers recall
what a good manager he was, firm but fair. Although he lived in March for his final years,
Terry managed to attend every meeting of the British Transport Pensioners’ Federation
held at the Tyseley BRSA club on the first Tuesday of every month. Terry leaves a wife. They
did not have any children and, as retired Saltley driver Don Magson says, Terry used to call
his staff ‘his children.’ With this in mind, in his will he left £2,000 to Saltley welfare, £2,000
to New St welfare and £500 to the Eccentrics.
MICHAEL LILLY
IT’S JUST A BUNCHA ****
it is with great sadness that i have to report the
passing of Michael Lilly. Mick was a driver at
slade green before moving to Dollands Moor
and then to his last depot at Hoo Junction.
Mick started his railway career in 1974 and was
full of character, famous for his ‘buncha ****’
saying when things went wrong, and will be
sadly missed. our thoughts are with the family
he left behind. riP Mick.
Alan Dickson, chair, Folkestone
International
PETER STREET A BIg MAN
former railwayman roger Morgan passed away in his sleep in March. roger started on the
railway at Banbury steam shed as a cleaner before progressing to fireman, and second man.
When he was made redundant, when Banbury was partly closed, roger went into the building
trade – he was a very good carpenter – but his interest in the railways continued. He became a
member of the Banbury railway society, the Buckinghamshire railway centre, and the Banbury
& District Model railway club. We will all miss his yarns about the railway.
Peter Street (1953-2014) had worked on the
railway since 1975.
He started at Streatham Hill as a guard
and moved to West Croydon in 1982 until it
closed. He then moved to Selhurst where, in
1988, he qualified as a driver. Peter passed
away in December last year after a long
battle with cancer. A big man who, as his
colleagues would often say, could moan for
England; but he had a heart of gold and will
be missed by us all.
Jim Browne, Banbury
John Ward, Selhurst
Michael Clatworthy and Steve James, Saltley
ROgER MORgAN RAILWAY YARNS
20 Letters
The ASLEF JOURNAL
We welcome letters, either by email to journal@aslef.org.uk
or by Royal Mail to ASLEF Journal at 77 St John Street,
London, EC1M 4NN. Each month the writer of our star letter
wins a rich range of ASLEF regalia.
Rewriting recent history
FIRST PLACE AT LAST FOR
WORST GREAT WESTERN
An interesting letter from Len Worboys
(Journal, february). But when you allow
someone to rewrite history so recently after
the events took place, there will be people
who can point out what really happened. Life
for a full-time official was clearly different to
that endured by drivers on south Eastern.
While restructuring led to realistic salaries,
older drivers would point out that this
agreement took our conditions of service back
several decades. After restructuring, the
maximum number of weekly rostered hours at
connex south Eastern was 77. Most drivers
found it hard to cope, many ending up
exhausted. csE introduced a section in its loss
control reports for ‘drivers requesting relief due
to fatigue.’ sickness rates more than doubled,
at some depots more than tripled, and the
railway inspectorate carried out an
unprecedented survey which revealed the
extent of the problem. sPADs increased (from
36 to 49) in a year, against the national trend,
which health & safety reps found was down to
changes brought about by restructuring.
Drivers were kept in the dark about the
realities of restructuring. Train crew supervisors
were under strict instructions not to print and
circulate our duties. one company council
member said, ‘if drivers knew what they were
letting themselves in for, they would have
voted against.’ Although we never actually
voted for. out of all those eligible to vote,
49.9% (472 out of 946) voted for the proposals,
after a dishonest campaign by AsLEf and
csE who were both determined to steamroller
it through.
Many members felt betrayed. A record
number left AsLEf. There was even a drivers’
rMT branch set up at slade green as a result.
There was a mass exodus from csE as drivers
wanted to get the hell out. it was a period of
which AsLEf, in District 1, at least, should be
ashamed. i trust all this is history and AsLEf
reps and officials no longer hop into bed
(metaphorically!) with the employer. But,
please, don’t allow Len, or anyone, to rewrite
this shameful period of history.
National Party threatens to oust Labour as
the party of Scotland. Let’s not stand on the
fence; a vote for the SNP is a vote for the
Tories. Listen to what the SNP is saying, and
once you get over the emotional tug of
home rule they are more right-wing than
David Cameron’s blue rinse Conservatives.
We in Wales face a similar problem with
Plaid Cymru. But do not be deceived; make
the choice that matters. Vote Labour. We
need a United Kingdom with a Labour
government in Westminster.
Laurie Holden, RMS
John Boreham, Carmarthen
Battle for Britain
Nigel’s dog whistle
The battle for Britain on 7 May – the most
important general election in which we
have ever voted – could well be decided in
Scotland where a resurgent Scottish
Well done Karl Davis (Journal, April) for
rebutting UKiP’s policies so succinctly. i live in
south-east England, an area very much under
threat from UKiP and its odious philosophy,
Good news for
FirstGroup: it’s finally
won a rail contract. Sort
of. The contract to run
the Great Western
franchise until 2019 is
actually a direct award
from government, rather
than a victory in
competition against rival
bidders. They all count,
of course, and the terms
– just £68 million to be
paid in premiums – look
attractive.
Back in 2011 the
company declined to
take up an option to pay
£800 million over three
years to keep the
franchise. Its reward was
a cheaper extension.
Now it’s got another,
thanks to the
government’s desire to
stick with the incumbent
while the line is
electrified. No wonder
Shadow Transport Secretary Michael Dugher: ‘It’s a stitch-up’
shares rose 4%.
The Shadow
Transport Secretary,
Michael Dugher, called it
a ‘stitch-up’ that ‘makes a
mockery of the current
franchise model.’ He’s
right, up to a point. The
system has been
shambolic since the
cock-up on the West
Coast when FirstGroup
got the gig but Virgin
challenged the award.
Yet Dugher would do
everyone a favour by
being clearer about what
he means when he says
he will put the current
franchise system ‘in the
bin’ and create a railway
that is ‘more publicly
controlled.’ He’s not
talking nationalisation,
that much is known, but
wants a public sector
operator, or bidder, in
some form. We need
greater clarity here.
Steve grant, former
District 8 Organiser
where myths are propagated to promote
policies only attractive to racists.
John Brooks, RMS
He says, she says, I say
I have just received a flyer through my
letterbox. It’s from my would-be Labour
Party Member of Parliament. He says if I
vote for him he will freeze energy bills until
2017. I say if the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership comes into effect,
Eon and the rest will sue the government
for loss of profit. He says if I vote for him he
will provide 8,000 more doctors and 20,000
more nurses. I say if TTIP comes in and the
NHS is privatised he won’t be able to do
either. He says if I vote for him there will be
tighter controls on immigration. I say that
smells of UKIP. He says if I vote for him he
Letters 21
MAY 2015
grand Central and wept
THANK YOU,
BROTHERS
A big, big thank you
to members of
Motherwell and
Grangemouth
branches DRS for their
help and support
during a difficult time.
Especially Bro Ritchie
Bamber (Carlisle) and Bro Barry
McGrath (Motherwell TMD).
A special thank you to DO Kevin
Lindsay (pictured) and Bro Tam
McKendrick for their invaluable help,
advice and support.
Scott Thomson, Motherwell
TMD (DRS)
will give a guaranteed job or training to
young people out of work for a year. I say
where will these jobs come from and how
will apprenticeships be policed so the
young ones are not exploited?
What he doesn’t say is that austerity
measures will continue as with the
Conservatives. What he doesn’t say is there
will be no return to public ownership. What
he doesn’t say is that if he makes zero hours
contracts illegal millions will be put out of
work. What he doesn’t say is how he will
stand up to the banks and the bullying of
the European Union. What we should be
saying is where do we go from here?
Chris Dodd, Derby
Depression and disaster
following the germanwings air disaster in the
french Alps, has the time come to look at the
driver’s ability to isolate the TPWs system?
Here are two examples to consider. (1) A driver
suffering from severe depression decides to
crash a train, isolates the TPWs, passes signals
at danger and heads towards a high speed
junction. (2) A terrorist, who has some training
on a simulator, gets in the cab, incapacitates
the driver, isolates the TPWs, and sets off. Both
are possible, and the common factor is the
ability of whoever is in the seat to isolate the
TPWs. surely it would not be difficult to
implement some safeguards? The DsD system
is linked to the gsMr, so why couldn’t the
TPWs also be linked? Then, if the TPWs
needed to be overridden, or isolated, perhaps
the signaller could send a pin code to the
driver to authorise the action. no doubt the
accountants would say it’s too expensive to
implement, but i think it’s an important safety
issue on which our union should take a lead.
Phil Murray, Birmingham New Street
My wife was travelling alone from London
to Grimsby on her staff travel card,
changing at Doncaster, and I told her she
could catch any train as it was about
midday on Thursday. From London she
caught a Grand Central train and the
conductor told her that her staff travel card
was not valid on any Grand Central train,
but used his discretion and let her go. After
hearing this I phoned ATOC and they
confirmed this is correct. This letter might
warn others who could fall into the same
problem. I find it strange that Grand
Central trains are outside staff travel
facilities, even safeguarded staff.
Reg Wooldridge, ex-Ramsgate
Staff travel facilities
i’m now in my 31st year of railway service. Ten
years ago i left scotrail where, due to
seniority, my travel facilities, network and
Europe-wide, were protected, and joined
Direct rail services. My stay with Drs was
short, 2 years 4 months, and i moved to
freightliner Heavy Haul. reading Kevin
Lindsay’s report (Journal, April) regarding
safeguarding scotrail staff travel on the
sleeper service, which is no longer part of their
franchise, prompted me to write. on behalf of
all of us who lost all travel facilities after a short
spell at Drs, what is AsLEf doing for us? i have
a sister-in-law who has just started at scotrail
as a conductor, and she and her family have
more travel facilities than me and mine. i also
have a friend who has retired from scotrail
and joined Drs. He, too, has retained full travel
facilities.
i feel i must speak out, not just for drivers
like me, but for others who were not protected
and joined after privatisation and have the
same facilities as me, ie nil.
Scott Letham, FLHH driver, Dunbar
Thank you, Thompsons
I am writing to thank you for referring my
case to Thompsons solicitors following my
accident in August 2013. It was very
traumatic but Thompsons were first class in
dealing with my claim and have just
reached a satisfactory conclusion. My
husband was always (and still is) proud to
be a member of ASLEF, with very good
reason. Your support over the years is
much appreciated. ASLEF is truly a union
for its members.
Deirdre Ralph
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22 Last Word
The ASLEF JOURNAL
We can afford to put some
geraniums in the planter
On the eve of the most
important election since
1945 KEITH RICHMOND
looks for answers to the big
questions of our time in
some newly published books
AviD cAMEron and
george osborne, aided
and abetted by nick
clegg and Danny Alexander, have
presided over a debilitating Age
of Austerity during the five
wasted years of this conservativeLiberal Democrat coalition
government. There was, they said,
no alternative. But austerity, as
caroline Lucas, green MP for
Brighton Pavilion, points out in
Honourable Friends? Parliament
and the Fight for Change
(Portobello, £14.99), is an explicitly
ideological, not an evidencebased, or particularly rational,
policy programme.
At HMrc, 300 people work in
the affluent compliance unit
chasing wealthy tax dodgers. At
the Department for Work &
Pensions, 3,200 chase wrongly
paid benefits, only some of which
are the result of fraud, and
collectively are worth just a
fraction of the taxes evaded by
the very rich.
D
‘
‘Books do furnish a room.’ –
Anthony Powell, A Dance to
the Music of Time
‘This is the sixth richest country in
the world,’ argues Bill Bryson,
author of Small Island. ‘We can
afford to have things. When i first
came here this country was much
poorer, but much better looked
after. roundabouts had flowers in
them and things like that. There is
this mania that we can’t afford
things, which is not true. if we
could afford it then, we can
certainly afford it now and, as a
society, we can afford to put some
geraniums in a planter.’
Lucas and Bryson understand
the problems facing these islands,
but neither has a practicable plan
for what to do about it. The
greens, in particular, and
especially their leader natalie
Caroline Lucas (above), Peter
Hain (above right) and Bill Bryson
(right) all have something to say
about the Conservative-led
coalition’s Age of Austerity
Bennett, know the questions, but
not the answers.
Peter Hain, by contrast, spells
out exactly what we need to do in
his new book Back to the Future of
Socialism (Policy Press, £19.99)
which, with its echoes of Anthony
crosland, is designed to help the
Labour Party regain its soul.
At the heart of Hain’s tract is
the Keynesian argument that a
country spends, not cuts, its way
out of recession – remember the
new Deal which dragged
America, and the world, out of the
great Depression – and that
public sector investment now
means lower borrowing in years
to come. ‘The right’s shibboleth
that Labour governments spend
more than they earn,’ he notes, ‘is
perfidious propaganda.’ Hain
explains that you have to prime
the pump if that pump is to
deliver.
A point underlined in Hard
Times: Inequality, Recession,
Aftermath by Tom clark with
Anthony Heath (Yale University
Press, £9.99) which examines the
fallout – ‘the staggering toll that
economic insecurity has taken on
individuals, families and
communities’ – since the financial
crisis of 2008.
in the 1930s the
democratically-elected left-wing
republican government in spain
introduced social and economic
reforms to improve life for
industrial workers and peasant
farmers. conservatives – the rich,
the powerful and the roman
catholic church – were outraged
and the army tried to overthrow
the government by force.
Thousands of spaniards rallied to
the republican cause, the coup
failed and the country was
plunged into a bloody civil war.
The nationalist army, led by
general franco, was backed by
falange irregulars and troops and
weapons from nazi germany and
fascist italy. on the republican
side, volunteers for the
international Brigades answered
Miró’s call to Aidez L’Espagne.
‘
‘A room without books is like
a body without a soul.’ –
Marcus Tullius Cicero
A Spanish Civil War Scrapbook
edited by Jim Jump (Lawrence &
Wishart, £25) is a fascinating
collection of newspaper cuttings,
made at the time by Elizabeth
Bickerstaffe, mother of former
nUPE and Unison leader rodney,
which vividly brings to life, as
history books sometimes fail to
do, the war which paved the way
for the second World War.
if you’re off to spain, and want
to walk in the footsteps of the
international Brigades volunteers,
pick up a copy of Frontline Madrid:
Battlefield Tours of the Spanish Civil
War (signal Books, £9.99) by David
Mathieson, a former special
adviser to robin cook, who writes
beautifully, and with insight, and
points out the paths less travelled
as well as the more famous sites.
Donald filtzer, in an essay on
soviet privilege in The Oxford
Handbook of Communism edited
by sA smith (oUP, £95) suggests
that the soviet Union had the
edge on communist china in the
quality, and the quantity, of its
political jokes. Leonid Brezhnev is
desperately trying to impress his
mother by showing her his party
limousine, his government
helicopter, and his three palatial
residences. ‘Tell me, mama,’ he
pleads, ‘What do you think?’‘Well,’
she hesitates. ‘it’s very good,
Leonid. But what if the
communists come back?’
in his popular Discworld series
Terry Pratchett, who died in March
at the age of 66, took on
capitalists, sexists, religious
fanatics and warmongers by
making them look ridiculous.
Perhaps his best-loved character
was Death, an imposing skeleton
of a grim reaper who rode a
white horse called Binky. ‘Don’t
think of this as dying,’ says Death.
‘Just think of it as leaving early to
avoid the rush.’
crossword 23
MAY 2015
Prize Crossword number 109 by Zebedee
Across
3 Unable to go wrong (9)
7 row of joined houses (7)
8 Even more peculiar (5)
10 Besides (4)
11 Diminish (8)
13 Matt ------, actor (6)
14 Aimless (6)
16 Extremely robust (4, 4)
17 Peter ----, comedy
actor (4)
20 Layers of spine
cartilage (5)
21 Mends (7)
22 Teach without
challenging (9)
Down
1 fish (5)
2 insects between grubs
and adults (11)
3 fault (4)
4 first batsman (6)
5 Jut out (8)
6 confiscation (7)
9 Bulletin board
thumbtacks (7, 4)
12 smokey --------,
American Mexican star (8)
13 Periods of ten years (7)
15 of gruff voice (6)
18 someone fond of
prying (5)
19 Proceeded at a fast
pace (4)
The winner of this month’s crossword will receive
Marks & Spencer vouchers to the value of £25
solution to prize crossword number 108 which
appeared in the April edition of the AsLEf Journal
name.....................................................................................................................................
Address.................................................................................................................................
Across: 1 Transgress 8 Waylaid 9 Paste 10 rout 11
Detached 13 Mason 14 Dixon 16 Dripping 17 Pair 20
finch 21 veiling 22 stonehenge
Down: 1 Tower 2 Any Questions 3 slav 4 rudder 5
sephardi 6 Asphyxiation 7 Deaden 12 snapshot 13
Modify 15 Uneven 18 rogue 19 Wish
..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................
..............................................................................Postcode.................................................
congratulations to David Avery of Llandaff, Cardiff,
who was last month’s winner.
Thanks for all your responses to the 108th ASLEF crossword in the April edition. If you successfully complete this month’s crossword
please send the solution to the Editor, ASLEF Journal, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN by 14 May
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